Today (June 5), the world observes World Environment Day. Let us all “Join the race to make the world a better place.”
Years ago, St Pope John Paul II called the environmental crisis “a moral issue”.
I am in London at the moment, and recently spent hours enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show (May 24-28) at which both Barbados and Grenada won Gold medals (third straight win for Barbados). T&T has also won medals there in the past.
The real winner at the flower show is always God. What a spiritually uplifting experience! What joy it is to be amazed over and over at the many gifts that God has given to us. Each flower, leaf, shrub, tree and insect cried out to me about the need to continue to motivate individuals and organisations to take responsibility to “cultivate and care for” God’s creation (Gen 2:15); to bring the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church to bear on the issue of environmental/ecological justice. Michelangelo’s words come to mind: “My soul can find no staircase to Heaven, unless it be through Earth’s loveliness.”
I was also reminded of the many environmental challenges the world faces due in a large part to us human beings. As Grenadian-based designer, Catherine John, who led the Grenadian team said: “As small islands, we are mindful of rising sea levels due to climate change, and our display features the coastline as a reminder of the balance of nature that we all depend upon.”
If we are to play our part to save our planet, we need to be aware of the many ways in which humanity is contributing to environmental degradation.
For example: air, water, and soil pollution, soil erosion, oil pollution of beaches, water pollution from effluents such as agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; flooding caused in part by the littering of our waterways; destruction of our mangroves, wetlands and coral reefs; illegal forestry and quarrying; unsustainable hunting; unplanned construction; global warming; climate change; depletion of the ozone layer and of natural resources; poor waste disposal; loss of biodiversity; deforestation; ‘acid rain’; genetic engineering and the resulting health issues relating to all the above.
Sadly, even among Catholics, there are sceptics who fail to acknowledge humanity’s contribution to the problems we face. Reflect on Pope Francis’
words in his encyclical, ‘Laudato Si – On care for our Common Home’ (LS):
“It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment. Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent. So what they all need is an ‘ecological conversion’,
whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors
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of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.
“We know how unsustainable is the behaviour of those who constantly consume and destroy, while others are not yet able to live in a way worthy of their human dignity …Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us” (LS, 217, 159, 193).
Pope Francis rightly reminds us that “a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (LS, 49). Although the poor normally tend to bear the brunt of environmental harm, we are all in danger if there is no multi-country co-operation to pull back from the brink.
Policy statements are not enough. See CCSJ’s website for our document on the Environment – with tips about what you can do. For example:
- Evaluate the impact of your activities on the environment. This will involve an examination and assessment of your lifestyle and consumption.
- Pledge to make changes that will improve the ways in which you impact on and interact with the environment.
- Strive to live simply so that others may simply live.
- Practice the 4 R’s for sustainable living: Reuse, Recycle, Reduce, Restore.
- Become an advocate for God’s creation.
- Enjoy nature and live in harmony with it.
- Consider establishing/supporting the establishment of an agricultural programme in your parish/school.
Let us be transformed by God’s grace to a new humanity.
